The dangers of surfing
by Zoe-eoZ
Summary: After his brothers had teased him for months, Kyle finally relented and let Heath give him a surfing lesson. Little did either of them know what disaster it'd end up turning into, however... A short Braxton brothers guilty pleasure fic in four parts. Includes hurt Kyle and Heath, and worried, caring Brax and Casey.
1. Shark!

_Apologies in advance. I suck at getting the Aussie-isms /Braxton-isms right, yet I still wanted to share this little fic. It's my first in this fandom and it will have one or two more parts._

 _Thanks if you give this a shot. :)_

* * *

...

"Come on, you goose! Use your arms!" Heath chuckled to himself as Kyle rolled his eyes in his direction before focusing back on the stupid situation he had gotten himself into: the surfboard underneath him, bucking and bobbing as he tried to get it farther into the water, he was taking his very first lesson.

Heath's chuckle in his ear, he shook his head, a grin on his own face as he wondered just how ridiculous he must be looking right about now. After months and months of being teased by his brothers he had finally given in and allowed Heath to teach him how to surf.

Blood and sand and the inherent need to surf and all that.

Maybe they'd shut up bugging him about it when they saw just how pathetic he was.

"Aw, Kylie, where's those muscles in your arms, mate? I thought playing the guitar would have helped you out at least a little there."

"It's a guitar, Heath. Not a dumbbell…" Kyle was panting, his arms were on fire, but at least he had managed to stand on his board at least once, not only surprising Heath, but also himself.

Time for round two.

As he was finally far enough out again, past the surf, he sat on his board, taking in the view. He couldn't deny that it was a great feeling. The water underneath, the land in the distance, a calm spread that he hadn't really experienced in a damn long time.

"It's great, isn't it?" Heath had appeared beside him, straddling his board, looking out toward the beach as well. No one else was out here yet, it was so early that even Brax and Case had still been asleep, part of the reason why Kyle had agreed to go with Heath in the first place. After all, just one brother witnessing how he made a complete fool of himself was definitely much better than all three of them together.

Heath smiled at him, and Kyle smiled right back. Because it _was_ great. And he was actually glad to be out there. Despite his exhausted arms that would surely be useless for the next few days after this, and despite the fact that he would probably have to try and stand on this board again in a minute or two, being cheered on and laughed at by his unrelenting brother.

Sure enough, Heath slapped him lightly on the shoulder, jerking his head in the direction of the land.

"Ready for roun—"

What followed happened so fast that Kyle didn't quite understand what was going on until Heath was off the board with a loud splash, his arms struggling up again, trying to grab the board before his wide eyes stared up at Kyle with something like pure panic. A sudden ripple of fear ran up Kyle's spine.

"Heath, what—"

He tried to get off his board to help him. Maybe Heath had a cramp or… (No, that didn't make sense…) His brother bobbed, then got pulled into the depth below, the water turning an awful shade of pink, and Kyle knew.

A shark. Somehow, a bloody shark had found its way this close to their beach, and he had gotten ahold of the middle Braxton. Panicking now, too, Kyle fumbled with his board, moving to get off and dive for Heath as his brother came back up, sputtering water, and screaming, screaming so desperately that Kyle's blood curdled.

"Stay on your board," Heath managed to choke out, but Kyle couldn't do that, couldn't just sit there and watch his brother get eaten alive. He had to do _something_ , had to save Heath somehow. Trying to think on the spot, he eventually let himself slide into the water, swimming over to where Heath was still struggling in a terrible tug of war with the beast.

"Kyle!"

"Hang in there mate! You gotta try and hold onto your board!" he yelled as Heath threw his head back, trying to kick out at whatever was underneath him. But he did manage to get his arms over his board.

"Don't." Heath shook his head, imploring his brother to stay the hell away. But of course Kyle wasn't listening. He was with him in seconds, feeling an eerie boiling underneath the water where the shark was still not letting up.

Kyle stared at Heath briefly, his poor brother barely able to keep himself steady and above water as the beast kept tugging at him.

"He's gonna rip my bloody leg off!" There was a desperate disbelief visible in Heath's features, and Kyle knew what to do. Following a sudden impulse, he dove down, hearing his brother yell out for him from above, until the sound got muffled and he found himself in the middle of a cauldron, barely able to see.

He was either going to die down there himself or save his brother, one or the other, but damn if he didn't try to save Heath.

As his vision adjusted the slightest bit, he was finally able to make out the blurry shape of the large fish, its terrible jaws embedded in Heath's leg right underneath the knee. How his brother was able to withstand that, how he hadn't passed out yet, was a miracle Kyle had no time to contemplate right then. Remembering some ancient tidbit of information, he made a fist and slammed it right against the shark's sensitive nose, and much to his instant relief, the animal let go of Heath almost immediately.

Kyle didn't wait another second. Pushing himself back above water, he swam closer to Heath, grabbing his brother by the waist.

"Come on, mate, out of the water. We gotta get you out of the water…"

"Shit…" Heath was moaning, barely able to help Kyle much as he pushed him up onto his board. "Get — out of the water, Kyle!"

He shoved Heath's legs up, first one, then the other, grimacing on his brother's behalf as Heath yelled out again. There was so much blood. And a good chunk of flesh missing.

"Aw, shit!" Heath cursed, trying to stay afloat on his board while Kyle held on to it with one hand as he swam over to his own that had traveled a little further away.

"Don't you bleed out on me now, okay?" he said, cursing under his breath because he didn't know what to do. What the hell was he supposed to do? He had to stop the blood flow somehow, had to get Heath back to the beach. And his board was still meters away from him. Maybe he should cut his losses and just swim back, pushing Heath to shore. Hoping that the shark wouldn't get to them again.

"Kyle, watch out!"

Whirling around at hearing Heath's warning, he already knew it was too late for that, and part of him prepared for the inevitable, for impact. Trying to shield himself, to duck, to get away, Kyle shoved the board with his brother further away, hoping the shark and the waves wouldn't jostle Heath off, before he couldn't really hope or think anymore as the animal came at him. Curling both hands into fists, he tried to hit the fish again, since it had worked before, but the water was going crazy around him, and the shark damn large and muscular and after hitting it once, Kyle lost all sense of direction as the shark bumped into his side hard.

There were bubbles all around him, a surge pulling him one way, a rolling wave another. He didn't know which way was up or down, but his lungs were burning, in need of oxygen, and he struggled to propel himself upward as best as he could, shooting out of the water to take a gulping breath of air. Heath was just a few meters away, yelling something, but all Kyle could hear was a roaring and then—

A searing white pain shot into his shoulder with such force that he felt like he was being crushed. All of him wanted to give up, curl into a ball and sink down into the depth then, but his gaze met Heath's briefly before the water swallowed him, a panic and fear in there that someone stayed with Kyle even as he went down down down, and with a last effort, he threw as many punches as he could, barely registering when the shark finally let go of him and swam away.

He knew he needed to be fast if he wanted to get away, if he wanted to live. If he wanted to be able to help Heath. But the water had turned into a sluggish mass, and his brain wasn't quite functioning anymore. He swallowed water as he took a breath too early, watching as his own blood colored the water around him and he didn't even quite understand what the hell had happened.

The shark had gotten to him, too… As the pain in his shoulder turned into a throbbing pulse, he finally managed to get his head back above water, coughing and coughing as he tried to stay afloat.

"Kyle! Shit, mate, are you okay? Shit… shit…"

From somewhere, hands came up to grab him, hold him, and he yelled out as they grazed his rib cage, only now registering that the shark had gotten him pretty good there too. His entire right side was a mass of blood and pain.

Looking up, he stared right into Heath's wide eyes.

"Sorry, mate," he choked out, "I was…" Yeah, what? He didn't know what he had wanted to say. Everything was just pain and he was so cold all of a sudden. But he needed to get Heath back to shore, he remembered that. So he struggled to get in a position where he could maybe push the stupid surfboard again, only to be gently reprimanded by his brother.

"Easy, mate. Easy… let's… we need to get your board, Kyle. Need to get you out of the water before he comes back."

"I can't." A strange sobbing noise made its way out of him and he didn't even know where it had come from. He wanted to apologize for that, too, berating himself for losing it, but all he could see was the damn ocean and all he could feel was that awful consuming pain in his side. No, he wasn't going anywhere.

"You have to. Come on, mate. Pull yourself together. We need that board. We'll do it together and then we'll get the bloody hell out of here."

Heaving in ragged breaths, Kyle coughed again, his head falling on Heath's board, where he was trying to cling to it, while his brother was still holding on to him desperately.

"Okay," he then muttered, "Okay."

* * *

...

Heath took a shaky breath. Alright, he thought, we can do this. His leg was killing him - probably quite literally going by the amount of blood dribbling out and into the ocean, attracting the shark and guiding him back to his position if he was extra lucky, so he knew he had to be quick, had to get Kyle out of the water. The kid was bleeding pretty badly himself, his entire shoulder torn up, and Heath grimaced as he stared straight at it. Noticing the bared bone and cartilage, he swallowed bile.

How were they going to make it out of this mess?

"You're not gonna go surfing with me ever again, huh?" he asked his little brother, but his attempt at gallows humor fell on deaf ears as poor Kyle lay with his head on the surfboard, his legs rather weakly treading water. "Mate, you gotta hang in there," he implored the younger one, his own desperation taking over again.

This was one completely stuffed up situation and he had no idea how they were supposed to get out of it. Forcing himself to take a few calm and deep breaths, he eventually had himself enough under control to think. Tugging hard at the straps on his short's waistband, he managed to pull it out completely, using it as a tourniquet of sorts for his mangled leg. Swallowing hard, he gritted his teeth as he went about his work, trying not to look too closely for fear of passing out. And he couldn't pass out, not here, not when Kyle relied on him to keep it together. The kid had saved his life and Heath'd be damned if he wasn't going to repay him now.

He was not going to lose a brother to the damn ocean, to a damn fish!

"Come on, mate," he said when he was done, trying to position himself so that he wouldn't dangle off the board while at the same time holding onto Kyle. Then he tried using his free arm to steer them toward Kyle's abandoned surfboard that was obliviously bobbing in the waves not too far from where they were.

...

It took him forever to reach it. By the time they had finally made it over there, Kyle's eyes had glazed over and his breath shallowed to an alarming rate. The searing feeling in his own leg had taken up a prominent spot in Heath's consciousness, making it hard to focus.

"We gotta get you on the board, Kylie," he said, gently slapping his brother's cheek when he didn't get a reaction. "Come on, mate. Help me here. Brax is gonna kill us both if we don't get back…"

A soft snorting noise from Kyle put a relieved smile on Heath's face.

"He's gonna kill us anyway, isn't he? I'll never live this down. The one time I decide to give surfing a shot."

Heath chuckled. "You sure this wasn't some ploy of yours? To get out of ever trying it again?"

Kyle lifted his head, the small motion visibly exhausting him, and Heath's chuckle ebbed away with worry. Looking around them, he made sure again that there was no traitorous motion underneath the water, because he sure as hell didn't trust the calm. That shark was probably still doing its rounds, biding its time… Scanning the horizon next, he hoped to see some motion there, maybe Brax and Case were already out to join them, or some other random beach walkers. Or maybe an early fisher boat…

But he was out of luck. Making a face, he tried to steal himself for the next part. They had to get Kyle up on his surfboard, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy or pretty.

"Kyle. Hey, mate…" He nudged the younger one where he clung to the board with one arm, and he only noticed then how hard the kid was shaking - how hard he himself was shaking.

Shock. They really needed to get out of the water…

"You gotta help me here, Kylie." Holding onto his brother's surfboard with one hand, he grabbed him by his left arm - the one that wasn't looking like minced meat - and pulled at it. "Grab your board, mate, come on. I'll try and help you up, but I can't do it from here. You gotta… you gotta work with me."

* * *

...

Kyle looked up, swallowing down any attempt at complaining, even though he really wanted to. His throat felt raw from the salt water he had ingested earlier and then violently coughed out. His shoulder and side felt like they weren't even quite attached anymore, and he was so so cold. He just wanted to let go and be done with this. He just wanted to go home.

Heaving in a breath, however, he forced himself to stare at Heath, look him directly in the eyes. There was worry in there, panic, and pain, and Kyle knew he couldn't do this to his brother, couldn't leave him to figure this one out on his own, or worse, die out here alongside him. So he pulled himself together as best as he still could and nodded.

"Okay," he breathed, then let his gaze wander, trying to gauge how far the board was away. A swim stroke, perhaps? He knew he wouldn't be able to swim, not really; he'd have to try and keep afloat long enough to be able to grab and hold onto his surfboard, and go from there. At least that way Heath would have more room again, and a better chance to steer his board toward the beach. The beach that somehow was so much further away now. And when had that happened?

Closing his eyes, he used his left arm to propel himself forward, a half jump of sorts that thankfully let him grapple with the other board before he had a chance to go under. He was sure it had been the least graceful movements of the day yet, but not even Heath was making fun of him anymore. Which was probably not a good sign, and yet Kyle was kind of relieved not having to deal with his brother's crooked sense of humor.

"You got it, mate, you got it. Now pull yourself up. I'll try and get your legs…"

Kyle tried, heaving himself up on the board centimeter by centimeter, feeling Heath give him a push, and somehow - he had no idea how - he eventually made it all the way up onto the surfboard, the pain in his shoulder and side mercilessly pulsing as the raw skin scraped over the board before he half collapsed on top of it, his cheek connecting rather roughly with the cool surface.

"You're good, mate. You made it. We'll… we'll get outta here now, okay?"

Kyle chuckled, but the sound was broken off abruptly. "How?" was all he asked, not expecting an answer, not really expecting anything anymore, he was so done. So cold…

"I'll get us to shore, okay? You just… hang in there, okay? Talk to me, mate. You need to stay awake, alright? Come on, mate. Kyle. Kyle…"

It was so damn difficult to focus, to listen. The water was so close, sloshing around him, lulling him down a dark spiral, the beach slowly fading away, Heath's voice…

"Kyle!"

A slap against his cheek made him blink. Heath's face had appeared right above him, or maybe beside him, his sense of direction was screwed. Frowning, he tried to pull himself up a little, failing miserably. The touch of his brother's hand against his back felt strangely nice and warm, and he almost commented on that, half smiling, but then the words wouldn't come and he was so exhausted—

"Pull yourself together! I need you to focus, mate. Come on. Don't pussy out on me now. You want to hear Brax taunt you with this forever?!"

"Oh gosh no…" He tried to shake his head, part of him aware how ridiculous that worry was, how lame Heath's threat, but he forced himself up anyways, forced himself to start using his legs to paddle.

"That's better. Just… slow and easy does it," Heath cajoled as he paddled next to him, his arms dipping in and out of the water as Kyle looked on, his gaze half blurred over.

This was almost… nice. He wasn't even all that cold anymore. The water kinda felt good. Warm…

"Stay with me, mate. Kyle. Look at me… Kyle!"


	2. Rescue

…

 _Thank you all so much for reading and for the kind feedback! This is getting a bit longer than expected. lol. Maybe I'm including a bit too much boring details..._

 _Anyways. To wrap this up, there'll definitely be another one or maybe two chapters coming after this one._

* * *

…

"Ya think they're already done?"

Casey grinned over at his oldest brother, kicking up sand as they finally made it down to the beach, ready to give Kyle a bit of a hard time if need be, even though Casey had to admit that the guy was pretty brave finally trying out surfing - especially under Heath's guidance.

Brax shot him a glance, a smirk on his face. "You bet. Chances are they've been sitting on the beach for the most part anyways. Kid is not exactly…" He trailed off, making Casey follow his gaze out onto the water, where two tiny figures were bobbing on the surface.

"Whoa, who'da thought?" he said, nudging his brother, but something in Brax's posture made him frown. His brother's shoulders were tense, his gait picking up speed as they went, and there was not a trace of a smile left on his face. No jesting comment, either, nothing. "Brax?"

Casey looked between him and the ocean, then back. "Okay, spit it out. What do you see that I'm not seeing? You're creeping me out."

"They're too low on their boards."

Casey didn't follow. Frown deepening, he bumped the older one again. "Probably just Heath trying to teach Kyle how to stand up on the frigging board, right? Or…" He snorted. "I bet he's making him go back and forth just paddling with his arms. Teaching him a lesson. Remember when he did that to me, making me paddle paddle paddle before he even allowed me to try and stand up for the first time? Going on about how important it is to be able to get yourself out there and back and all that?"

"Uh huh…"

Casey grinned and went on, following as Brax walked closer to the water's edge. "And by the end of it I could literally not even lift a bottle of water for two days, my arms were so tired? You were furious with him…" Casey chuckled at the memory. It hadn't been funny back then, but in hindsight, it was. Leave it to Heath to pull the same immature thing on their middle brother now.

But when he looked at Brax again, he saw him shake his head, a deep and worried frown on his face before he suddenly started running.

"Brax?! What is going on?" Flustered, Casey jogged after him, not comprehending what had gotten into his oldest brother. Unless… "You think they're in trouble?"

And then he saw it too: the way one of the figures on the water paddled with their arms, just like you'd expect. But the other one - and if he wasn't completely mistaken that was Kyle going by the dark mop of hair - was using his legs, his head practically resting on the board, his arms too.

And was that… crap, was that blood?

"Call an ambulance, Case! Now!" Brax called out, still running, "Try and get John over here if he's at the lifeguard station."

"Crap, Brax, what the hell you think happened?" asked Casey as he fumbled with his things, dropping his surfboard to reach for his phone, just as he saw Nate jog by in the distance, on one of his morning runs.

By then Brax had already dropped all his things, too, and was now stripping out of his shirt before he ran further and into the water. Casey was itching to just run after him, too, knowing that he couldn't. He needed to get help first. Because whatever had happened, it couldn't be good. Hailing the doc over with a wave of his hand, he simultaneously made the call, feeling like an idiot because he had no idea what to even tell them.

"Someone got hurt in the water," he made himself say to the emergency dispatcher once the line connected, not sure what he said was even true, _praying_ it wasn't.

"Casey," Nate called out when he had reached him, and Casey held up an arm to silence him, quickly finishing his call, giving them his location and what little details he had.

"Okay, thank you," he then said before hanging up and pulling a confused Nate with him.

"What's going on, Casey? Did someone get hurt?" The doc looked at him with concern, and Case shrugged.

"I don't know, I think…" He ran a hand through his hair, then pointed out onto the water where Brax was swimming farther and farther out with fast calculated strokes. "Can you go grab John? I think something happened to Heath and Kyle, I gotta… I gotta get out there," he blurted, stammering, not looking at Nate anymore as he abruptly sprinted after his eldest brother, not even bothering to wait for a reply, or take off his shirt.

"Casey, wait!"

But he didn't. He couldn't. Something was wrong and he needed to help his brothers, needed to get to them.

* * *

...

It didn't take him long. A few minutes at best, and he had caught up with Brax, reaching their two brothers almost at the same time as he did.

"Heath," Brax called out as he swam over to him first, but Heath urgently shook his head, jerking his chin in Kyle's direction, Kyle, who lay on his board almost as if he was—

No. Casey blinked, banning the thought from his head before it had a chance to fully form. With a few last strokes, he swam over to Kyle, shocked when he saw the poor kid's arm and shoulder.

"Oh god, Heath, what happened to you guys?" he exclaimed, eyes wide with fear as he met his brother's gaze.

"A bloody shark, man," Heath said, his expression panicked now. "You two gotta get out of the water. Brax! Get Case out of the freaking water—"

"Easy, mate," Brax soothed, nodding to Casey, indicating Heath's leg, and Casey felt his throat close as he saw how mangled it looked. Like a raw piece of meat. His stomach turned and he had to fight down his gagging reflex.

"We're gonna get you guys out of here, okay? Just… hang tight."

"Brax, that thing almost killled us; you and Case—"

"I know…"

Casey was clinging to Kyle's board, his fingers briefly fluttering over the kid's torn shoulder and arm, but there was nothing he could do out here. Nothing. Frozen, he just stared, looking to Brax as if for guidance.

"Kyle…"

There wasn't even a moan coming from his brother.

"What have we got?"

Casey turned at hearing the new voice pipe up behind him, surprised to see Nate appear seemingly out of nowhere. The man must have followed them in, and Casey was strangely glad about that. If they wanted to get his brothers out of the water, they could use all the help they could get.

"Did you not hear me, dammit?!" Heath yelled, looking angry now on top of panicked, with his hand grabbing Brax's neck hard. "There's a bloody shark in the water. The thing is gonna kill us all if we don't get out of here. Now!"

Casey found himself nodding dumbly. For some reason the information didn't want to quite register with him. Like he couldn't quite believe it. A shark attack? Really? That stuff happened on TV, to other people. Not his brothers. And yet... Looking at Kyle before him again, he stroked his brother's cheek, tapping a little harder when there was no reaction.

"Kyle, mate? Can you hear me?"

A new panic surging, he frantically looked to Brax, then Nate, who swam over, feeling for a pulse.

"He's alive, but barely. Heath is right. We need to get out of the water. - All of us."

With a nod, they eventually all began working together to get the surfboards back toward the shoreline and onto the beach. An eerie quiet settled among them, the constant worry of the shark returning or a wave pushing either of the two injured down and into the water gnawing on them, and Casey was more than a little relieved when he could finally feel the sand under his feet again. He felt Brax's heavy hand land on his back briefly as they pulled the surfboards the last bit up and onto the sand.

Only once they had made it up there and to safety, did Casey allow himself to take a better look at his brothers' injuries, rubbing his hand over his face in horror.

"How the hell could this happen?"

"We need towels, shirts, anything," Nate ordered, already busy trying to attend to both Heath and Kyle at the same time, even though Heath kept insisting he was fine.

"Take care of Kyle, doc," he said, "I'm good. How's he doing? How's he doing?! Kyle? Mate?"

"You need to calm down, Heath," Brax urged him, uncharacteristically softly patting his arm.

"Can someone bring towels? John should be here, too. Where's John? I called to get him," Nate said, his tone more urgent than Casey would have liked. He had completely forgotten about John, or the towels. But now he jumped up, grateful for the task the doc had given him, grateful to be able to do something to help and not just stand around and watch as his brothers were bleeding out.

Before he ran toward the pile with their things, he quickly took off his shirt, handing it to Nate, who nodded at him before tearing it apart, the ripping sound making Casey feel nauseous. Then he jogged off, picking up his and Brax's towels, needing to wait a moment before he could go back, allowing for a sudden wave of dizziness to pass. There had been so much blood. If Heath and Kyle didn't make it…

Swallowing, he forced himself to focus on the here and now and ran back where Brax was helping Nate by wrapping a piece of the shirt around a moaning Heath's leg while the doc was busy trying to staunch the bleeding coming from Kyle's shoulder.

"It's too deep. I can't do anything for him here. Where the hell is the ambulance?" Nate yelled, just as John finally came racing toward them, a large bag of medical supplies dangling off him.

"They're here, they're here," he said, gasping for air as he fell on his knees, quickly opening the bag so he could assist Nate. The men were talking in urgent voices, but Casey was zoning out.

He had slumped down into the sand next to Kyle, holding his brother's hand out of some sudden urge to comfort him, even though the poor mate wasn't even conscious anymore.

"Come on, Kyle. You gotta hang in there, okay?" he told him, briefly looking up to exchange another glance with Brax, the older one's eyes dark and pained and not giving Casey much comfort. Brax was freaked out, too. Worried. And if _he_ was worried, then Casey had to be, too.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered now, absently stroking Kyle's head, watching as John and Nate tried to keep the blood from just running out of him.

So much blood…

* * *

…

Brax couldn't quite pinpoint why he had caught on to the fact that something was up, but now he was relieved that he had, or things could have ended even worse.

"Where's Kyle?" Heath grabbed his arm a little too tightly as the gurney they had put him on was being wheeled to the second ambulance. His eyes wide, his breathing still way too fast, he stared up at Brax imploringly, giving the oldest brother a pang. If there was one thing he couldn't bear to see in this world, it was one of his brothers in pain, in distress. And now two of them were.

"In the other ambulance," he told Heath, pressing his arm in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture. "They're ready to head off—"

"You need to go with him, Brax! He's… he's—"

"Easy, mate. Case is going with him, and I'll go with you."

"I'm fine," Heath snapped, dismissing him, but he saw right through the kid's tough act. Heath was terrified, and in pain. It was so obvious that under any other circumstances Brax would have loved to make fun of him for it, but there was no time for humor, not today. Not when he didn't know how bad off his brothers really were.

"Yeah, right you are," Brax soothed, only half looking at him now as he watched Nate sit above Kyle on the gurney, still desperately trying to staunch the bleeding as the paramedics carried them into the other ambulance.

"Go go go!" the doc yelled, his urgent tone making a horrible cold creep into Brax from behind. Casey stood to the side, stepping from one foot to the other, just waiting for room so he could ride with Kyle.

"Brax!" he now hollered over, looking lost and much like the little boy he had once been, and Brax had to try his best to put on a brave face for him.

"Stay with Kyle, Case. I'll meet you at the hospital," he called over, and Casey nodded, then hopped into the ambulance before the doors were being shut.

"Don't let him out of your sight, Case!" Heath yelled, and Brax tightened his grip on him reflexively.

"He'll be right there with him, mate. Okay? Now we just need to get you to the hospital, too, alright?"

As Brax tried to smile down on him, Heath managed a nod, grimacing through another wave of pain. If only Brax could take on that pain for his younger brother, he would in an instant. But he couldn't, and it left him feeling helpless, weak. He didn't like feeling that way, didn't like worrying, being afraid. They'd be fine, he told himself. He had to believe that.

When it was finally his turn to hop into the ambulance, he did so quickly, messaging Ricky as he sat down in a seat next to Heath. His brother noticed him typing and grabbed his wrist, making Brax look at him.

"You texting Rick?"

"Ya, mate. She—"

"Can you tell her to call Bianca? She doesn't know…"

Brax nodded, swallowing. "Of course, mate. You just hang in there now. It's gonna be alright."

A sudden sob escaped Heath, making Brax's throat close with exploding sympathy.

"I almost got him killed, Brax," he whispered hoarsely, tears welling in his eyes, but the oldest Braxton brother shook his head.

"Don't be an idiot, Heath. You couldn't know."

"If I hadn't teased him so much, he would have never been out there. But I couldn't shut my damn mouth. If he dies—"

Brax raised his eyebrows, staring at Heath. With a resolute shake of the head, he said, "Kyle will be fine. Just like you."

"Brax—"

"Look at me. He will be fine. Okay? _You_ will be fine. I'll make sure of it. Just trust me. I got this. I got you."

And finally, Heath started crying for real, making Brax take off his seatbelt to be able to lean down and hug him, comfort him.

"Sir," one of the paramedics tried to warn him off, but Brax gave him a short glare and a shake of the head and the man kept quiet. Hell if Brax would allow anyone to tell him off for being there for his brother now. He hadn't been there before, when they had really needed him, but he was here now.

Dammit. He'd never let any of them surf without him there ever again.

* * *

…

The way to the hospital felt like an eternity. Casey kept holding Kyle's hand, exchanging glances with Nate, who looked rather grim.

"Will he…" Casey's voice shook too much to continue, but the doc understood him anyways.

"They'll do whatever they can. Kyle is strong, resilient. The blood loss worries me, but they can take care of that at the hospital."

Maybe he could donate blood for him or something, Casey thought, remembering only then that they weren't even technically related, their blood probably not a match. Then why did it feel so awful to see him like that? His skin ashen, eyes closed, his side, arm and shoulder all thickly wrapped up…

Casey felt the lump in his throat grow bigger, if that was even possible. Leaning in a bit, stroking Kyle's damp hair, he muttered, "You'll be okay, mate, you hear me? You'll be okay…"

No, blood really didn't mean anything. This kid was his brother as much as Brax or Heath, and he wasn't going to lose either of them anytime soon.


	3. Hospital

…

 _This got long. I'm thinking there needs to be one last chapter as a sort of coda to this now. If you'd like, let me know what you think._

 _I know there's a bunch of scenes I didn't even touch, but since this was intended to be something short, I left out some interactions, focusing a bit more on Kyle and his brothers, at least for now..._

 _Thanks for reading._

* * *

…

"They'll be okay, Case. You hear me?"

When Ricky walked through the doors of the elevator, hearing Brax before seeing him and his baby brother standing right there in the waiting area, Brax's hands firmly on Casey's shoulders, their faces almost touching, she felt a pang of sympathy. These brothers never could catch a break.

Raising her chin and taking a deep breath, she nudged a desolate, sniffling Bianca and made her way over to them now.

"Come on, Bee," she cajoled her poor friend, not letting go of her even when they had reached the two men. Leaning over to the side, she quickly kissed Brax, indicating Bianca with a jerk of the head, hoping he'd catch on to the fact that his brother's girlfriend was a little the worse for wear ever since receiving the news that her boyfriend had been mauled by a shark, and in desperate need of some extra attention.

Sure enough, Bianca's eyes filled with tears again as she addressed the oldest Braxton, wiping at her face as if upset over the fact that she couldn't keep it together.

"How is he, Brax? I mean… how are they?"

Taking a step toward Bianca, Brax wrapped her in his arms, so tightly that she eventually just succumbed, accepting the gesture, new sobs making their way to the surface, almost too loud to hear what he was saying to her.

"They haven't been back yet. But you know Heath, nothing keeps him down for long…"

Ricky grimaced as she took a step over to a lost looking Casey, who was hugging himself, clearly cold under the thin foil blanket someone had given him. Gently, she stroked his cheek, smiling sadly up at him before rummaging in her large bag to hand him a small pile of fresh clothes, then grabbing the one she had brought for Brax.

"You boys must be freezing," she said, nothing else. She knew that any cheesy words of comfort would be lost now, so she didn't try. Not yet. The time would surely come.

Absently, Casey stared at her, then at the clothes. Eventually he grabbed the shirt on top, moving to put it on as he whispered a soft, "Thank you."

"You need to get out of those wet shorts, too." Ricky gave him a pointed look that he ignored. But she wasn't here to fight. Not when they had no idea how Heath and Kyle were faring.

"No one's been out with news?" she asked, rubbing Casey's back briefly as he shook his head. Then she walked back over to Bianca and Brax, nudging her boyfriend to show him the clothes. Just like his brother, he only took the shirt, and Ricky couldn't help but roll her eyes at how stubborn and hard headed these Braxton boys all were. One of them got in trouble and they all stopped behaving like responsible adults. Now two of them were hurt, and common sense had gone out the window.

Yeah, she wouldn't get either of them to step out even for a minute before they heard from Heath and Kyle, of that much she was sure, but with a weary sigh, she decided to let it go.

"Coffee, anyone?" she then asked, trying to sound chipper, trying to ignore her own worries, too, so she could be there for these people that had become her whole life. Her family.

Heath and Kyle better pulled through, or…

"I'll go with you," Bianca said, looking a little more put together again, and Ricky held out an arm to sidehug her.

"We'll be right back," she then mouthed in Brax's direction, seeing him nod at her with an all too worked up expression as she went on her way.

Too many people needed her, and she had only so many arms to give hugs. The feeling weighed heavily on her, but she had to keep up her spirits for them. She had to be strong.

* * *

...

They had been waiting forever, sitting in the designated area, drinking too much bad coffee and pacing the hallways, but finally a doctor, still in OR scrubs, was walking toward them and as if they all knew what it meant, they went over to him expectantly, ready to hear the news about Heath and Kyle.

"How are they doing, doc?" Brax asked the man, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "When can we see them?"

"Mr. Braxton, you're the brother?" the doctor asked with a somber face, and Brax nodded, wiping his mouth absently as he tried to listen. He was exhausted, worried, and all he wanted to do was go see his brothers, not stand out here knowing nothing.

The doctor looked at him, his earnest face making Brax's skin crawl.

"Listen, doc," he said before the doctor had a chance to say anything, "I'm not losing either of them, alright? So whatever it is you need to say, tell me and then we'll go from there and fix it."

"Your brother," the doctor checked his clipboard, making Brax more upset by the minute. "Heath, he's in a stable condition. We managed to save his leg, although it remains to be seen how much of his function he'll be able to regain. The shark tore out a large piece of muscle. We had to use skin grafts from his thigh to be able to close the wound up."

Skin grafts? Function?

"But he'll live, right? He's okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Braxton, he'll live." There was the soft hint of a sympathetic smile on the man's face for just a moment before he sobered again.

"And Kyle?" Casey asked where he stood beside Brax, his arms crossed, wearing a clean shirt now, but still the same boardshorts from earlier, just like Brax. They had dried on their bodies as they had waited, neither of them willing to leave for even a moment.

Ricky was nudging Brax's arm now, giving him a sympathetic, worried look, and he would have loved to feel her arms around him, soothing him, but she was still busy trying to keep a frightened Bianca from freaking out again, her arms wrapped around his brother's girlfriend in a comforting gesture.

"Kyle…" The doctor made an ominous pause, making Brax take a threatening step forward, but Casey stopped him, pulling him away before he could lay into the man.

"Brax," he whispered, shaking his head, holding him by the arm, and Brax knew what the kid meant, of course. The doctor was just doing his job, and he needed to take a deep breath and just listen. Let him talk.

The man gave them all a look, then continued. "Your brother Kyle has sustained severe trauma to his shoulder and arm. Broken ribs and a large hematoma on his right side also give us some reason to worry right now, because they could influence his ability to breathe. He's stable for now, if in critical condition." The doctor paused, making a face as Brax tried to comprehend all that information.

"Okay," he then said, "So, when can we see them?"

"Mr. Braxton. You can go see Heath now, but only for a moment; he needs rest."

Bianca exhaled audibly at that, a small smile forming on her face that Brax tried to reciprocate, when the doctor said, "Kyle, however, is still in surgery."

His head whipping back to face the man, Brax frowned. "Still?" It had been hours already. Damn long hours full of worry.

The doctor nodded. "For his shoulder. We could already fix it for the most part. The clavicle was broken, ligaments torn. We're not quite done doing reconstructive surgery, however. Our team is still in with him, but he should be out shortly. I'll let you know as soon as that's the case."

Casey swallowed, nodding as he shifted his position, and all Brax could do was nod at the doc, then pull Case toward him in a half hug as the man finally left.

"Hey," he muttered into his youngest brother's ear, holding him by the neck until their heads were almost touching. "They'll be okay now, you hear me? They'll be okay…"

He wasn't just telling his brother that, but also himself.

And they _would_ be okay. They had to be.

* * *

…

* * *

…

An obnoxious beeping sound was the first thing that registered with Kyle, right before a surge of dull pain began growing in his side, making it hard to breathe.

"Kyle?"

Trying to inhale, then exhale, inhale, exhale, he hoped to get the feeling under control, but something wasn't right.

"Easy, mate. You're okay… Kyle."

Was that… "Brax?"

Peeling his eyes open, he had to blink a couple of times before his vision cleared enough for him to see. Sure enough, there was his oldest brother, sitting on a chair right next to him, looking so concerned that he had to grin. But quickly the expression turned into more of a grimace as the pain made itself known and breathing got harder yet again.

"Brax," he heaved, "what are you doing here, what…" His gaze fell on his hand, still in Brax's grasp, an intravenous line going from there and up to a drip. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to think. He had been surfing with Heath...

"Stay with me, Kyle. Come on, mate."

"I'll get Nate, another voice said, and Kyle blinked. Ricky was here, too?

"Ricky?" As he looked, she had appeared close by his side, smiling down on him.

"Hey…"

Kyle furrowed his brow. "What's going on?"

Brax beside him scoffed, looking away, but Kyle caught him wiping at his eyes briefly, which made his frown deepen. Was his tough oldest brother… worried about him to the point of tears? Now that couldn't be good.

"Brax? Rick?" A panic spread inside of him, making breathing even harder as memory abruptly whooshed back into him. A shark had attacked Heath and then…

"Is it Heath?" he blurted, pushing himself up too quickly, a stabbing feeling slicing into his chest, making him curl his arm across it, sucking in air as that made things even worse. "He's not dead, is he? Brax?!"

"Mate, he's fine. But you need to calm down!" Brax was suddenly over him, gently pushing him down by his left shoulder, careful not to touch either his chest or the other shoulder, and when Kyle looked, wild eyed and panicked, he saw how patched up he was, his right arm and shoulder thickly bandaged, his chest bruised and discolored to the point of a purplish black. Which, he figured, at least explained his trouble breathing.

"Heath's—"

"Fine," Brax finished for him, his stare urgent now, and… a little freaked out?

"Brax, I… I can't breathe…"

"Come on, mate. You got this. In and out, alright!? Just… look at me."

And Kyle did. Focusing on Brax, he mirrored what his brother was doing, taking a breath in, then out, in and out, until it got the slightest bit more bearable. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ricky come back inside, a somber looking Nate Cooper by her side. And when had she even left? He must have lost a minute there or something. If only breathing wasn't so damn difficult.

Clinging to Brax with one hand, clawing at his brother's arm, Kyle tried to hang on, sitting half hunched over as Nate appeared by his side, stethoscope in hand.

"Kyle, can you try and take a deep breath for me?"

He shook his head. "Can't, doc."

Nate nodded, and Kyle noticed him shooting Brax and Ricky a glance that only made him panic more. "The hell is going on?! Talk to me!" he choked out, making all of them look over at him, and part of him suddenly wished he could just vanish into the ground. But… "Can't breathe."

His clipped tone freaked even himself out, but when Brax suddenly yelled at the doc to "Do something, dammit!", Kyle's eyes widened even more before everything went kind of crazy. There was Ricky, smiling down on him with a sympathetic soothing smile, Brax running both hands over his hair like a maniac.

"Help him, doc, or I'll—"

"Threats won't help anyone, Brax. Why don't you step out for a moment. You're freaking your brother out even more," Nate hissed, then, turning to Kyle, his tone changed completely as he calmly told him, "You're in respiratory distress, Kyle. But you're going to be okay. I might just need to intubate you for a little bit until your lungs have had a chance to recuperate. That shark dealt you quite a blow…"

Kyle tried nodding, and failed, acutely aware of Ricky's calming hand on his arm now, confused about the fact that he seemed to be lying down again, confused, too, that there were other people in the room now with them. Nurses probably or…

"Try and remain calm, this might be a bit unpleasant but it's going to be much better in…"

Kyle didn't hear the rest, half gagging as Nate put a tube down his throat, making him want to lash out, but someone was holding him down, Ricky's smile now strained and further away, and he was panicking, panicking, choking, until… his lungs suddenly filled properly again, and he could relax.

He wanted to stay awake, ask questions, ask about Heath, but the pull of unconsciousness was so strong that he couldn't quite fight it anymore…

* * *

…

The next time he woke up went much better. Brax was still there - or probably again - and soon Nate poked his head in, beaming.

"I bet you're ready to get that tube out," the doc said, and Kyle tried to nod as best as he could. There was still some pain in his chest, but it was a lot less prominent, and his arm felt like it wasn't even there. A surge of panic went through him, but when he looked to the side to check, the arm was still there, still attached.

"This might be uncomfortable, but it'll be quick. I'll count to three and then you cough, okay? That should help."

Kyle nodded again, steeling himself.

"Your lungs are doing much better, but the first independent breaths might still hurt a bit. Try to stay calm and it should improve very quickly. Can you do that?"

He damn well hoped so…

* * *

…

Brax held his breath as he watched Nate do his job, almost as if he himself was getting extubated. He had to actively force himself to continue breathing, putting his best impression of a smile on his face for his little brother.

The last week had been exhausting for all of them. Not a day had gone by that he hadn't spent at the hospital, oscillating from Heath's room to Kyle's and back in an endless loop. At least they'd finally had some good news. Heath was doing much better, getting ready to go home in a few days, even though he'd need a ton of rehab, and Kyle had finally woken up from an induced coma, now that his lungs had healed enough for him to breathe on his own. His arm and shoulder, however, were another matter…

As he heard his little brother cough, Nate pulling out the tube, Brax had to look away to collect himself, nausea threatening to overwhelm him. Balling his hands into fists, he tried to stay calm, for Kyle's sake, then turned around again, smiling at the kid where he now lay, wheezing a little, his lips tinged blue, but breathing on his own, slowly growing calmer again. Kyle's wide eyes found his, and Brax stepped back into his usual role, cool and calm for his family when they needed him. "There you go, mate. Looking much better already," he said in a too chipper tone, earning himself an eye roll from his younger brother that he decided to take as a good sign. Kid was doing better alright.

But Nate's hand was still resting on Kyle's chest as he looked from him to the monitors beside him, finally breaking into a smile when the numbers seemed to be doing what he had hoped they would.

"Good. Slow and steady. How are you feeling, Kyle? Any weird pain?"

The kid shook his head, his eyes fluttering briefly as he did, as if just this one thing had exhausted him enough to need sleep again. Brax's fists clenched harder as he looked on, exchanging a quick glance with Nate when he finally got back up, patting Kyle's arm.

"There's a button right here. If anything is the matter, if the pain becomes too much, don't hesitate to use it and I or one of the nurses will be with you in a bit. They'll bring a drip for the morphine, too, so you can adjust it yourself, but I want to see how your lungs are doing first, okay?"

Kyle merely nodded, while all Brax heard was "morphine." Therefore he excused himself briefly, rubbing Kyle's head before he went after the doc.

"I'll be right back," he told his brother, who was already drifting off to sleep. Brax's lips twitched as a sudden surge of strange affection ran through him, making him regret stepping away from the poor kid even for a minute. But he had to ask… Jogging after the doc, he called out, making the other man stop in his tracks.

"Nate."

"What is it, Brax?"

Looking for words, he fidgeted a little, growing annoyed with himself. "The morphine drip…"

Nate nodded, understanding him right away. "His pain will still be quite severe now that he's conscious again. We'll need to be extra careful so he won't become addicted. The drip is a way to monitor how much he's already had and to give him the feeling that he doesn't need to wait for one of us to administer a dose."

Brax nodded, both relieved and worried. No one needed addiction to be added to the mess that was his brother's current life.

"I should warn you, Brax. The shoulder… still doesn't look very good. He'll need a lot of help—"

"Yeah, I know. Same with Heath. Mate can't even—"

Nate shook his head, clipping Brax's sentence short. "No. I mean, he'll need help even getting through the day at first. It won't be pretty."

Frowning, Brax tried to piece together the information looking for something he was clearly missing. "If it's so bad, why didn't you keep him in that coma? Kid's suffered enough, doc."

He saw Nate swallow, awkwardly rubbing his nose before he continued. "We can't extend an induced coma indefinitely. The shorter, the better, or the patient might have trouble waking up again. We got lucky with Kyle that he came back so easily. But…" He shook his head, and Brax understood.

"Okay," he said, just that. "Okay." Then he turned around, running a hand over his head, trying to process. Pain. Kyle would be in a lot of pain and there was only so much morphine to be had before it grew dangerous. They could deal with that, right? At least the kid was still alive…

* * *

…

The next few days were awful. No, awful was an understatement. Kyle clenched his jaw, trying to work through another wave of pain as a nurse cleaned his wounds, looking at him sympathetically. Her name was Elaine, and she was his favorite, so at least there was that. She wasn't the prettiest or even the cheeriest of them all. She was also on the older side, but for some reason, he felt better with her there. Elaine didn't try to flirt with him and he didn't feel like he had to flirt back or act tough as with some of the others, and that was a damn good thing when he was so close to losing it, always fearing he could start bawling like a child any second.

It just hurt so freaking bad.

"You hanging in there, Kyle?" Elaine now asked, and he forced himself to smile at her before turning his head away so that he wouldn't have to see his shoulder and arm. They looked… too red, too raw, and hell if they didn't hurt like they had on the very first day.

How was he ever going to try and surf like that again? He scoffed, rolling his eyes. Yeah, who was he kidding? He'd definitely not go out onto the water again. Ever. But… he wouldn't even be able to hold a guitar, let alone strum with.. with this mass of tissue attached to him. Swallowing a couple of times in quick succession, he tried to breathe around the lump in his throat, breathe through the pain.

"Almost done, kid," Elaine soothed, "Almost done. Deep slow breaths, okay? We don't want to freak out the doc or your brothers again, do we?"

Clenching his jaw even harder, he ignored her comment, but it worked in him. She meant his little freak out a week or so ago. The pain had gotten so overwhelming that he had managed to make himself hyperventilate, just when Brax and Casey had shown up, wheeling Heath in with them for his middle brother's first visit. He still felt awful about it. How Heath had paled and called out for him. It had sounded too damn close to the panicked call back when they had been out in the water… They all had looked so worried, Casey the one who had kept calm, coaching Kyle through breathing while Brax had run for help.

"And, all done." Elaine patted his good arm lightly, jolting him out of his memory. When he didn't reply with his usual attempt at light banter, however, she leaned in a bit, stroking his cheek with a worried expression marring her features.

"You look a bit ashen, kid."

"I'm fine," he said, his voice clipped and not convincing even himself, but she let it go, smiling at him.

"If I'm not mistaken, your brother is waiting outside to see you. You think you can handle a visitor yet, or should I stall a little bit longer?"

A small smile appeared on his face. "No, I'm… I'm okay. Thanks, Elaine."

She nodded at him, then left the room, but not without turning around one more time, saying, "We'll give you five minutes…" Then she was off.

And Kyle was alone again. No, not alone. His brothers hadn't left him alone once since he had been brought here; they had always shown up, kept him company, and when he woke up in the mornings, he had once or twice caught Brax or Casey sneak out, thinking he didn't notice that they had spent the night with him.

He smiled at the thought, before the pain obliterated that expression mercilessly and he was grateful that Elaine had given him an extra five minutes of alone time after all. A bit more time to pull himself together. A bit more time for the morphine to take the edge off of things...

…

"Oi, mate!"

Kyle startled, confused for just a moment when he saw Heath wheel himself in in his wheelchair. Had he dozed off for a moment there? Adjusting his position on his bed, sitting up a bit straighter, Kyle made himself smile at his brother and was relieved when Heath didn't comment on the fact that he must have found him sleeping.

"It's time you come home with us, Kylie," Heath said, positioning his chair close to Kyle's bed, a big grin on his face as he moved to fistbump him in greeting. "You hanging in there, mate?" he abruptly asked, making Kyle feel self-conscious, quickly nodding his head.

"Yeah, course. How's the leg? Is Bianca on you about the rehab business?"

Heath rolled his eyes. "She's a tyrant."

"She's also right…" Kyle gave his brother a pointed look, nodding at his legrest. Heath was being difficult about the rehab, thinking he could get it all done at home, with Casey there to help him. Kyle scoffed at the mere thought. But they had fought over this before. Mostly, Brax had fought, getting so angry at one point, all of them sitting together in Kyle's room at the time, that he had gotten close to hitting the younger brother, only held back by Casey and a very stern looking Ricky.

"You boys need to calm down," she had said, then Case had accompanied Brax outside, and Kyle hadn't seen him again that day. At least it had taught him one thing. He wouldn't even start trying to wiggle his way out of rehab.

"I said I'd wait till you're out," Heath was saying now, startling Kyle a bit.

"You wanna wait for me."

Heath shrugged. "We can be roommates. Keep each other company. It'll be fun! Well... you know, as fun as it can be..." Heath grinned sheepishly. "And don't tell me you won't need rehab, because Brax will never let you pull the same thing on him I did."

Kyle snorted, grimacing slightly as a too abrupt movement jostled his shoulder too much.

"You okay, mate?" Heath's worried expression made Kyle's jaw muscles dance as he bit down hard. As much as he loved his brothers, it had grown tiring to see them give him that kind of look. He was over it. Over being at the stupid hospital, too. Over feeling the way he did.

The stupid pain made him short fused and cranky.

"Fine," he therefore snapped, apologizing instantly when Heath raised his hands appeasingly. "I'm sorry, mate. I'm just—"

"Tired of the constant looks of pity? Yeah, I get it." Heath nudged him lightly, a grin on his face now. "And that's exactly why we need to do this together."

Kyle sighed. "I don't even know for how much longer I'll have to stay here," he grumbled, but Heath was unperturbed.

"You've come this far, mate. Can't be that much longer. But if you want, I'll talk to the doc for you?"

"You?" Kyle raised an eyebrow, a genuine smirk back in place.

"I'm your big brother, too. I can talk with your doctors…"

Kyle snorted, amused. "I kind of really wanna see that. Heath Braxton talking to the docs for me."

Heath scoffed good-naturedly. "Oi. Brax is not the only one who can do that kinda stuff, okay?" They both chuckled, before Heath abruptly turned serious again, startling Kyle a bit.

"I was worried about you, mate. We all were. Still are."

"I know. But I'm fine."

Heath shook his head. "I know you aren't, because I'm not," he said, more honest than either of them liked to admit, but Kyle remained silent anyways, waiting for what his brother had to say. "I didn't tell Brax or Case, or even Bianca - even though she's hounding me about it, wanting me to talk about it and stuff, but… mate, that morning out on the water… I still dream about that shit. Honestly, I'll deny I ever said anything if you so much as bring it up to any of them, but I thought we were dead. I was bloody terrified."

"Me too…"

Heath scoffed unhappily. "I think part of the reason why I don't want to go to rehab without you is because I need to know you'll be okay. I can't be away from you—"

"Heath…"

"No, let me finish this before I chicken out of admitting it. Mate… I stuffed up that day. I shouldn't have made you go out in the water with me, and when you did, when that… beast came to get us, I should have protected you."

Kyle scoffed, brow furrowing. "You couldn't know that would happen, Heath. And you were injured, you couldn't have protected me."

"Brax would have."

Suddenly, Kyle understood. Heath's middle child syndrome was peeking through again. Always feeling inadequate, always feeling like he needed to prove himself, needed to protect his younger siblings while emulating the larger than life Brax.

"Well," he countered, "Brax wasn't there. You and I were, and I think we did pretty well all things considered. And at the end of the day, Brax still got to be the big brother hero, just as usual, so…"

Heath chuckled. "He's always there to get us out of whatever stuffed up mess we land ourselves in, isn't he?"

"What's that?"

They both turned to see Brax appear in the doorway, a wide grin on his face that made Heath roll his eyes and Kyle chuckle.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you agree I'm constantly saving your asses," Brax said, and Heath gave an exaggerated sigh, exchanging a conspiratorial glance with Kyle, who smiled at him.

"Rehab, you and me together, okay?" Heath whispered, then, louder, he added, "Oi, Brax. Since we agreed you're the best big brother there is, can you do us a solid and talk the kid's doc into letting him out so he can come to rehab with me?"

It was Brax's turn to roll his eyes and lightly slap Heath's head. "You should have long started. And Kyle will go as soon as he's better."

"Brax, I'm—"

"If you say _fine_ ," Brax told Kyle with a firm glare, "I'll personally punch you in your bad shoulder to see how true that is…"

As Kyle had to chuckle, he was relieved to realize that for a blissful few minutes, he had completely forgotten all about his pain. Maybe the day would indeed come where it would move further and further to the periphery, until it wasn't always there anymore.

"What'd I miss?" a flustered looking Casey said when he walked into the room now, too, and his three brothers shook their heads.

"Nothing."

"Riiiight…"

Chuckling, they all exchanged glances as Casey rolled his eyes.


	4. Blood and sand and surfing

...

 _And here it is, the last little chapter._

 _Thank you guys for a fun experience. I enjoyed sharing this with you. :)_

* * *

…

"Try again, Kyle, like this."

Connor, the physical therapist, guided Kyle's movements, making him break out in a sweat as the pain increased to dangerous levels.

"I can't," he pressed out, shaking his head, trying to get his arm out of the other man's grasp. But Connor shook his head, looking at him sternly.

They had been at it for almost thirty minutes, and as sad as it was, Kyle had grown insanely exhausted just from that bit of therapy. The pain was not helping matters. He was over it, ready to call it quits, to leave this freaking rehab place and just go home. His arm and shoulder were never going to get better, were they?

The too bright and chipper room with its eggshell walls and cheesy impressionist art prints didn't help his mood, either.

"Come on, Kyle. One last set and you're good to go for today."

"It's not working!" he snapped, angry now, and with a quick movement, he pulled his arm away, making his shoulder protest. Sucking in air, he doubled over and cursed under his breath when Connor's arm came up to pat his back lightly.

"You're already doing much better, mate, can't you see that?" he said with an encouraging voice that made Kyle feel bad for being so grumpy, but not bad enough to work on his mood, either.

"It's been a bloody month and I still can't even lift a damn glass."

Connor sighed, making a face before smiling again. "It's tough at first. The progress is slow and it gets grating; trust me, I've seen it hundreds of times."

"But have you personally been through it?" Kyle knew he was being petulant, but he couldn't help it. Heath was already doing so much better, he was out of the wheelchair more often than not these days, and Kyle still couldn't move half of his right side. It just… sucked.

"No," Connor admitted now, smile still in place. "You got me there. But I've helped a ton of people just like you. And believe me when I say that they've almost all struggled at the beginning. You gotta give it time."

Kyle scoffed, tilting his head to look up at his therapist. The man was a nice enough mate and didn't deserve to be on the wrong end of his temper, but it was just so damn frustrating. And it was wearing him down. They had lowered his daily dosage of pain meds tremendously for fear of him becoming addicted, and while he guessed it was better that way, the pain wouldn't cease to remind him that it could still make his life miserable. Time was just something he didn't want to give it.

"Come on," Connor cajoled again, "just one last set."

With a sigh, Kyle returned his focus to the stupid exercise, gritting his teeth to get through it.

"Oi! Kylie! You still not done?"

Closing his eyes at hearing his brother and fellow rehab patient, he forced himself to block him out until he was done.

"Come on, mate! We have places to be…"

When Kyle looked again, finally ready, Connor was grinning.

"See you tomorrow, mate. Get that brother of yours out of here for a bit," he said with a wink, because Heath was already notorious for his bursts of energy and temper when he got too stir-crazy, and making sure that he got out regularly was one of the tasks Kyle had given himself to make sure that Heath didn't bail out of rehab.

He raised an eyebrow now, smirking at Connor. "Yuh," he muttered, "See you tomorrow."

Wiping over his mouth and forehead briefly to get rid of the sweat, he then took a deep breath, and turned around to walk over to where his brother was waiting.

"You ready for a trip to the city, mate?" Heath asked, nudging Kyle, who gave him a look.

"Can I at least take a shower first?"

"What for?" Heath whined, clearly ready to get going, and Kyle had to point at the gray sweatpants he was wearing and his frumpy shirt.

"Because unlike you I'm still in my workout pants?"

"Yeah." Heath grinned. "Why the heck do you need workout pants anyways? It's not like you're actually working up a sweat."

"Stuff it, Heath," Kyle dismissed him, rolling his eyes but opting not to go down that route. He didn't really want to argue with his brother, or admit just how exhausting the rehab exercises were to him when Heath seemed to have a much easier time. To his surprise, however, his brother suddenly apologized, his voice uncharacteristically solemn for a moment.

"I'm sorry, mate. I'm…" Running a hand over his head, he gave the younger brother an awkward look, something unacknowledged working in him. "Why don't you take that shower and I'll give Bianca a quick call? Meet you down in the hall?"

Frowning, Kyle agreed. "Yeah," he said. "Meet you in fifteen?"

Heath nodded, then patted Kyle's good shoulder before starting to limp away, the click clack of his crutches slowly receding with him.

"Oi, Heath!"

"Yeh?" The older brother turned half around to face Kyle again.

"Thanks for doing this with me," Kyle allowed, and Heath's expression turned into a beaming smile.

"Don't go all sentimental on me, you goose! Come on, take that shower." And with that he was off, leaving Kyle to smile to himself.

He knew this wasn't actually easy for either of them. But Heath had waited to do it with him and despite the fact that they sometimes fought or got on each other's nerves, despite the fact that he liked to tease Heath about missing Bianca so much that he called her daily and despite the fact that Heath kept making fun of Kyle for making all the female staff swoon (it really wasn't like that!), it was a comfort to have his brother here with him.

Because when it came down to it, when either one of them wanted to just give up, the other was always there to pick up the pieces and cajole them into continuing. And Kyle knew they'd eventually make it out of there.

And maybe they'd even go out into the ocean again together. Maybe…

* * *

...

* * *

...

"Okay good," the physical therapist said, smiling at Kyle as he adjusted the rest under his arm. "Five more sets, and then that's it."

"Aw, that's nothing. Come on, Kylie!" Heath beamed, clapping his hands.

Rolling his eyes at his older brother, Kyle scoffed. "Easy for you to say, you're already done," he said, before focusing back on the task at hand. Flexing his arm muscles, he tried to repeat the motion Connor had shown him. Lifting the weight with his hand, his elbow placed firmly on the armrest, he gritted his teeth to finish the assignment and be done.

Beside him, Heath was sitting on a chair, his injured leg stretched out casually while he watched on, a smug grin on his face. The expression annoyed Kyle to no end, but he told himself to let it go. Just one last time.

"Oh, there he goes, there he goes!" Heath cheered him on, commenting on every single move, and Kyle had to admit once again that while it was a bit annoying, Heath's presence, his good mood and light humor had definitely made the stay at the rehab facility much easier. Still, he couldn't wait to be out of there, and today was finally going to be that day. This was his last session, not the last time he'd have to do the exercises, mind. But the last time he'd have to do them here, away from home.

He and Heath were both more than ready to get back, and while his older brother had already been cleared two weeks ago, he had checked into a hotel to hang around until Kyle was finally done, too, a gesture Heath didn't really like to acknowledge, but Kyle had thanked him anyways. More than once. Maybe also because he liked to see how uncomfortable the older one got when he did it...

"And that was it!" Connor grinned, pulling him back out of his thoughts, just as Heath leaned over to pat his shoulder.

"Aw, you're done, mate! You're really done! Let's get outta here." He beamed, pulling Kyle to his feet, making him laugh

"Easy mate." He chuckled.

"Not 'easy'! Brax is probably already waiting outside, and you know he hates waiting."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Well, he'll have to, because I'm not just gonna hop in the ute and get back to Summer Bay in this," he pointed to the blue shorts he was wearing, laughing when Heath merely shrugged, looking half sheepishly down on his own shorts.

"What's wrong with shorts?" he asked, clearly not getting it, and Kyle merely shook his head, leaving him standing there.

"Tell Brax I'll be down in half an hour…"

"Okay, mate, but it'll be on you to explain why it took you that long..."

As Heath's voice trailed off, Kyle went on his way, giving Connor one last handshake.

"Thanks, mate," he told the man who had worked wonders with him these last few months, then he went on his way.

He might still not be back to a hundred percent, but the improvements were stunning nonetheless. He could finally use his arm again, pick up things. Putting his clothes on and all the other mundane tasks of life had become second nature again.

Opening the door to his room, he was only half surprised to see Jenna, one of the nurses, waiting there for him, sitting on what had been his bed these last months. Upon seeing him, she hopped off and walked toward him, hooking her fingers into the waistband of his shorts. "Need a hand with these, Mr. Braxton?" she asked with a seductive grin on her face that made him smirk.

"Absolutely," he whispered hoarsely, leaning down to kiss her as she steered him toward the bed...

* * *

...

"What the hell took you so long?"

Brax checked the time pointedly, putting his phone back in his pocket when Kyle finally emerged out of the building, a sheepish grin on his face that told the whole story and Brax had to smirk, shaking his head.

Heath, who sat with his legs dangling out of the car gave the oldest Braxton brother a nudge, grinning widely. "Her name is Jenna," he explained, making their younger brother stare daggers at him.

"Stuff it, Heath."

"What?! This a secret now or something? Because, mate, if it is, you should work on that blush a little."

As Kyle rolled his eyes, wiping a hand across his face, Brax and Heath both had to laugh.

Walking to meet his brother, Brax ruffled the grudging kid's hair affectionately before pulling him in for a hug. "Good to see you, mate. I'm glad we're bringing you home," he said, then took Kyle's duffle bag from him.

"You got her number, right?" Heath piped up, laughing when Kyle told him to shut it, and Brax was happy to hear them banter like that again. Until he realized they were one brother short again. Hoisting the bag into the trunk of the car, he turned around to face the other two. "Anyone seen Case?"

"Nope." Heath's sheepish stare didn't go unnoticed by Brax, but it was Kyle he addressed next.

"Okay, where's the nurses' rec room?"

Kyle, who had been drinking from a bottle of water, snorted, almost dropping the bottle. With a wide grin, he nodded at Brax.

"I'll get him," he said, and Brax tried to look grim when he jerked his head in answer.

"He better still be wearing his pants, I want to get going! Tell him to hurry back here!"

With a wave of his arm, Kyle quickly jogged away, leaving Brax and Heath to wait. Sighing, Brax turned to face his middle brother.

"Kids, huh?" Heath said, chuckling when Brax just stared at him.

"You'd be there, too, if it weren't for Bianca," he pointed out, and Heath beamed.

"What can I say? Even I grew up. I'm sure these boys will settle one day, too. Until then, let 'em have some fun, Brax."

With that he pushed him so hard Brax half stumbled, rolling his eyes before he pushed right back, making Heath topple back. For one awkward second, he froze, shocked, and worried that he might have hurt the younger one, because he had completely forgotten about the leg. But then Heath bellowed out a heartfelt laugh, and Brax knew he was okay. He was finally okay again.

Both his brothers were okay.

* * *

…

* * *

...

"Come on, you goose!" Heath bellowed.

"Use your arms!" Casey waved his own arms around exaggeratedly, both he and Heath laughing like maniacs as Kyle struggled to get past the surf.

He shook his head, rolling his eyes at himself. Why exactly was he out here again, making a fool of himself?

"Don't listen to them, mate. You should have seen them when they first started out." Brax, who was floating on his board right next to him, grinned, and Kyle made a face.

"Yeah, but they got the hang of it eventually," he panted, then sighed when the waters grew less choppy and he could sit up on his board.

"See? You made it." Brax looked way too proud. There was a hint of something darker hidden behind his eyes, and they both knew what that was. The memory of the disaster of Kyle's first surfing lesson was still vivid, even over a year later, and the fact that he was at all out here, able to use his arm, was a bit of a miracle.

"You ready to actually surf now, mate?" Brax's voice jolted him back, and he grinned at his oldest brother a little awkwardly, rolling his eyes at the other two, who were exaggeratedly cheering him on from a little further away.

"Come on, Kylie! Show 'em what you got!"

"I bet he can't even stand up," Casey said, grinning, high fiving Heath as Kyle scoffed.

"Oi!" Brax hollered, looking more serious than expected, and his younger brothers all laughed.

"Oooh, the instructor isn't happy…" Casey chuckled, but then fell silent as Brax shot him a glare, though a wide grin remained on his face.

"Shut it, Case. I mean it." Then he nodded to Kyle. "You ready?"

"No?" Kyle chuckled, but then got in position anyways, trying to remember what Brax had taught him. Just wait for the pull, and stay ahead of the wave… He could do this, right? Yeah, he could. As the water surged under him, rolling up, he let the pull tug at him before jumping on his feet. Hearing his brothers cheer him on, he tried to balance, riding the wave, feeling the spray of the water, feeling the slight sear of pain in his shoulder, before it got pushed back by a more all encompassing feeling.

The ocean was theirs today, it was his, and as he floated across it, he felt alive. Finally, he truly understood why his brothers liked this so much. Surfing. Maybe he really was more like them than he had thought.

Blood and sand and surfing, and all that.


End file.
